"she might have her rhythm section switching beats, bass playing
backward... or bass in 3/4 time and drums in 4/4 with my guitar bridging the
intersections."

-Rusty McCarthy

"I have a long history of being told I have no rhythm, and of
people saying 'I've heard chickens sing better than that'".

-Mary Margaret O'Hara

"Seeing Mary Margaret O'Hara let fly elicits a level of emotion not
unlike that of being witness close up to the product of Van Gogh's madness."

-JJ Ecto, writer

Mary Margaret O'Hara's contributions to the music world have been
undeniably massive. Her strikingly original, acceptionally superb vocal and songwriting
styles have had a tremendous influence on countless artists who've come after her,
including Kristen Hersh, Tanya Donelly, Cowboy Junkies, Guided by Voices, This Mortal Coil
and Liz Phair to name a few. Interestingly enough, she has only released one full length
album, Miss America (1988, Virgin/Kotch) and one ep, Christmas (1996, Kotch)
since her emergance in 1984. This is no doubt due partly to her unusually eccentric ways
(Andy Partridge once abandoned a production project with O'Hara after but one day due to
to his inabilitiy to cope with her unorthodox recording approach). She is an artist who
has trouble operating within the music industry norms, strongly dictating her musicians
during recording. She also refuses to record anywhere that is not within walking distance
from several Catholic churches, as she claims these are her favorite places to "hang
out". Although there are certainly many individuals who would love to work with Mary,
there are few individuals Mary feels comfortable working with. No doubt she is most at
home on stage, where her soaring, utterly gorgeous voice comes across unbridled amidst her
far-reaching repitoire, which reveals strong and knowledgable roots in jazz, reggae, folk
and country.

Mary Margaret O'Hara was born in Toronto to a large Catholic family. Her
sister, Catherine O'Hara has experienced a successful acting career, most notably for her
role in the box office smash "Home Alone". After graduating from Ontario Art
College, Mary began acting and singing with the pop/soul group Dollars, covering songs by
the likes of Etta James and Otis Redding. By 1976 she was lead vocalist for rock band Go
Deo Chorus, where she developed her unique songwriting and vocal techniques. Audiences
were stunned as she would flail neuroticly on stage, ad-libbing songs into a bewilderment
of repetitive confusion and then suddenly bring it all down into an acoustic subtlety over
which her voice would become awe-inspiringly pure and elegant. She was clearly out of this
world.

By 1983 Mary had left the band to pursue solo prospects. She was signed
to Virgin on the strength of a Go Deo Chorus demo tape in 1984. She entered the studio
that November, with a few members of her old band and XTC's Andy Partridge at the knobs.
Phased by her unorthodoxy, Partridge abandoned the project. Over the next three years, the
O'Hara sessions yielded some of the most interesting and fantastic moments in musical
history (having a profound impact on the musicians she worked with), yet the tapes
remained unmixed and it seemed the project would fizzle.

That all changed in 1987, when innovative guitarist/songwriter Michael
Brook caught Mary performing in Toronto with Hugh Marsh. Thrilled by the very thing that
had irritated Partridge, Brook took on the role of co-producing what would become Miss
America.

The final product emerged at last in 1988 on Virgin. It was brilliant,
like nothing else ever before heard, bending all the norms of arrangement and structure.
With some of the best and most innovative musicians around participating (including Rusty
McCarthy), the record displayed O'Hara's love for solid, steady rhythms, jazz basslines,
innovative instrumentation, slow, sad waltzes, jazz grooves and contrasting jerky,
improvisational abstractions. Completely unpreditable, the record was constantly shifting
between dusty, country flavoured ballads ("Dear Darling", "Body in
Trouble"), sporatic, demented free-for-all over tight rhythms ("Year in
Song", "My Friends Have"), jazz shuffles resembling old standards
("Keeping You in Mind") and folkish, melodic pop songs ("To Cry
About", "Anew Day").

It was one of the most exciting and powerful records of the 1980's and
won O'Hara an instant, captivated audience, convinced of her genius and a deep respect
from her fellow musicians. Some of her more famous fans are Michael Stipe, Kristen Hersh,
Alex Chilton and Tanita Tikaram and her songs have been covered by Cowboy Junkies and This
Mortal Coil. Her live shows continued to stun the average pop fan and thrill enlightened
listeners and the demand for a new record was massive. Yet, it became clear as the years
rolled by, and nothing new surfaced, that it would be a while before a follow-up record
would emerge.

Instead O'Hara has been involved in the work of many like minded artists
and has racked up a tremendous guest-appearance discography. She has often served as lead
singer to folk rockers The Henrys and contributed a track to The Paul Haines Album
(1993). She added backing vocals to Morrisey's 1990 single "November Spawned a
Monster" and John & Mary's "Clare Scarf" from their 1993 record The
Weedkiller's Daughter. She has also appeared on records by Gary Lucas, S.F. Seals, The
Walkabouts, Holly Cole, Meryn Cadell, and Bruce Cockburn among others and she has toured
with The Lost Dakotas and Blue Rodeo. She has also made a hobbie in films, namely
appearing alongside Tom Waits in Candy Mountain (1986) and composing the soundtrack
to The Events Leading Up to My Death (1991).

In 1996 a new record finally did emerge, albeit a short one, the ep Christmas.
It appeared not long after Koch re-issued Miss America on the same label, much to
the joy of O'Hara's fanbase. Since then enthusiasts travel far to attend her Canadian
shows. Her performances have been called "life-changing".

Mary Margaret O'Hara remains one of the most respected and powerful
figures in recent music history. She may very have garnered more interest on the strength
of the least amount of material than any other artist. Rumors still circulate that she is
recording a new album, and little could be better for the music world than if they were to
turn out true.